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Love the Way You Hold Me

We’ve all been in tough situations! Let us clear that up in the beginning of this post! Life may not come easy, in fact we are guaranteed that things will come against us, and some things will hurt a lot, but if we do not give up and if we keep ourselves focused on God then we can push through it!

I’ve talked several times, in my Facebook Live videos, about how important focus is and I stand by that! We will go where we set our eyes! We will either walk on paths that are sturdy, or lead ourselves into those that are full of briers and cut us. We may get scrapped up at times, but that is no reason to give up! Keep moving, push forward and do not stop! There is hope if you keep your eyes set on Him!

It is up to us to decide what we will do when we face pain and confusion. Will we give up and let it overtake us, or will we stand our ground and live the life that we are called to?

I had closed a sermon, by Pastor Jacob McCormick, on “Dips,” at my church just a couple of weeks back and it held to this very truth. We will all face dips; low points in our lives that seem to knock us off of the path that we are on, and some that appear to be almost unbearable. I have not, and I will never change my outlook on this! It is up to us to look to Christ and keep walking! Eventually, and with practice, those dips will affect us less and less and we will begin to see that focusing on Him can eliminate the effect that those “dips” have on us entirely!

I can’t say that I haven’t been in dips! I assure that right now is not an easy time for me, but who would I be if I let myself wallow in pain? No! It is my decision to push forward and I should maintain that and do the best that I can! That is a decision that all of us have to make! I aim to never stop improving on myself!

Of course, we are certainly not alone in any suffering! Christ suffered greater than any of us, to ease our suffering, and He said “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (MATTHEW 11:28) The thing that we have to learn to understand is that our Savior is present! He is always with us!

Our Lord is not some far off deity in the stars! He is with us! He is in our hearts! He is literally present with us at all times! We make it seem as though He isn’t, that He is out of touch with us.. To be honest as long as keep pushing Him aside, He is..

I saw a meme on Facebook recently that speaks as a testament to this. It said, “Do y’all ever wish God would just walk into your room, and sit on your bed, and be like ‘Okay, so this is what you should do.’ or is it just me?” But we put God out of place when we say things like that.. We make it seem as though He isn’t a loving Father Who is always near His children, and as though we have to plead with Him to come to us when we need Him or need advice. That simply is not the case! He doesn’t have to sit on your bed, He lives inside of you! He does show us what to do, if we are willing to seek Him.

He said He will “never leave you, nor forsake you,” (DEUTERONOMY 31:6) and that “the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (JOSHUA 1:9) and we say that we believe His Word, but act as though it has no practical meaning or application in our lives. He meant it literally, not figuratively.

Why has it become so normal for us to doubt God? Why is that a thing? I know why, but let us not go there right now.

My point is that we cannot simply say that we believe and be okay. It takes an actual changing of your mind. Everything, even the way that you think, has to be altered so that you can grasp His truth and concepts, and so that you can understand He is present and not at a distance. If we keep our eyes fixed on Him, setting them on “things above, and not on Earthly things,” (COLOSSIANS 3:2) then we will begin to see ourselves suffer less and less because the decisions that we make, the actions that we take, and the thoughts that we think will be aligned with Him! On the flip side, however, if we aren’t focusing on Him how could we possibly see Him or hear Him? Can you see, with your eyes, the wall that is behind you right now? That is the point of repentance; to take our eyes off of the things that are not of God and to look to Him!.. But I digress. That is a conversation for another time.

I am not saying that you will never suffer! You will! What I am saying is that when we come to a point in which we might suffer it does not have to overcome us! We don’t have to make it out to be some thing that will beat us, and that we will never recover from, especially since most of the time we will certainly recover.

Human beings, especially this generation, seem to crave attention so much that they will obtain it by any means. When we set ourselves in that position, falling into to drama and overreaction for the sake of being heard or noticed, we do ourselves no good. That certainly isn’t the way to see God!

I’ll speak candidly here, because I believe there is value in being up front.. The only reason we don’t see God is because we aren’t looking at Him. He did say that! He told us that “You will seek Me and find Me, when you seek Me with all your heart.” (JEREMIAH 29:13) He gave us instructions on where to look, when He told us that He is the way, the truth, and the life. He very plainly says to us that He is our way to God, and that if we set our hearts and eyes on Him we will find Him!

That may seem very generalized, and I’m sure that some who read this will say, “but how do we set our eyes on Him?” The specifics are easy. You look to Him for everything. Go to His Word and let Him change you. As long as you keep your eyes forward, on Him, and keep doing your part He will uplift you!

Stop. Listen. Obey. Do these, instead of getting caught up in confusion and wallowing in pain. Look to the God Who formed you, and He will lift you up! Don’t set Him at a distance, if you do you will not see Him! Don’t talk about Him like He isn’t around, doing so only pushes you further away from Him! He is there! He is present! He is really with you! That is so amazing! Learn that, and hold on to it! Hold on to Him! Because what is better than looking to God and saying “Father, I love the way You hold me!”

He wants to help you, and He wants guide you! It is up to you to look to Him, in all things, and to perform your work of faith joyfully and without complaint!

Let Him teach you, and guide you! Let Him hold you! Just stop, and be held! Life will get better, just don’t focus on all of the negativity around you! There is joy and peace, just open up to Him! There IS hope, and His name is Jesus Christ!

I don’t know that many people will read this, but I pray that those of you who do are blessed by it! I wish the best for each and every one of you, and all of the happiness and peace that our Father has in store for you!